Welcome to Arash

On a day out on the town, Christine somehow convinced me to drive half an hour to some little Middle Eastern market she had heard of. Upon arrival, I head a pair of women rattling off in a language I didn’t recognize, which is always a good sign; if true foreigners are shopping here, it most likely means you’re in for a treat. Upon entering, we found ourselves in the middle of a small market with simple décor; very reminiscent of a small market of the region. The walls are fairly bare and plain in color, giving off a professional yet humble atmosphere. I don’t need any distractions when I’m shopping. I’m here for the food.

We found a nice sized produce section filled with some of your normal veg but it was the produce that wasn’t, “everyday” that excited us. The items that stood out to us included fresh almonds, Iranian

Cucumbers, sour grapes, and sour oranges; naturally, we bought some of each. We then moved through the aisles, noticing a good selection of coffees, teas, sweets and surprisingly, scented waters. By this I mean, rose water, orange blossom water, tarragon water and other flavors that I didn’t even know were being made into such products.

The small case of frozen meats had me drooling, because I never thought I would see a whole lamb’s head in a market in the US. Normally roasted whole and shared by many, I was bummed when no one would share one with me in Istanbul. This tiny case also had beef tongue, tripe and assorted other frozen meats. Despite all of this amazing food, there was still one thing that topped the rest; imported orange Fanta.

Oh yes my friends, this is my holy grail. You see, companies change recipes for different regions depending on their tastes. For example, Lipton tea is kind of a joke in the US. If you go to Germany or Egypt, the same Lipton is much better. They keep the better quality tea leaves for countries that really drink tea, and give scrap to the US. The same principle is employed by Fanta. The stuff sold in the US has way too much sugar, and you can see and feel the excess syrup. Yuck! Arash has orange Fanta imported from Russia and the flavor is much more in balance.  

Zach